Topic: E3 2018

@KratosMD @RogerRoger Nothing better than ignorantly typing "zzzzzzz...." 30 seconds into a beautiful CGI trailer that probably cost thousands upon thousands to produce!

@KratosMD To be honest though it only takes one great announcement to make E3 great for me, and this year it was Resi 2. Absolutely smitten with that.

I don't care about who wins E3 because I choose to enjoy it for all the new announcements and new looks at existing games at the pressers.

My Team is Gamer. And my team always wins.

For me, GAMERS WON E3!!! Whatever Platform you have - even if its a 'bias' to one specific, EVERY show offered something that GAMERS can enjoy. The amount of games from each though can vary according to personal preference but every one had something for me.

EA - Presentation wasn't 'great' but I am still looking forward to Anthem despite the negativity towards EA. BF5 (or V) looks 'interesting' and at least the DLC multi-player maps will be 'free' so you won't be splitting up the player base. I couldn't care less if it features Females on the front line, unrealistic (for the time and setting) cosmetics or some more 'CoD' like movement options - its whether or not these affect the actual 'fun' of the game. A bit disappointed that Star Wars only got a name despite knowing that ReSpawn were working on a Star Wars game 2yrs ago.

Bethesda - Presentation was better and also more humorous too. This was also the first indication that Devs are preparing for the next gen of consoles. Starfield, Rage 2 and Doom Eternal are my most anticipated upcoming releases but Wolfenstein: Youngblood could well be another that gets added to my growing collection.

MS - So many big games that I won't list them all. From an Exclusives PoV, Halo Infinite, Gears 5 and especially Forza Horizon 4 all appealed. Crackdown 3 actually looked 'better' too and caused me to rethink my decision to purchase or not.Cuphead DLC, Battletoads and Ori all have potential too but Sea of Thieves and PUBG's upcoming content wasn't particularly of interest to me. Of all the multi-platform titles, Cyberpunk 2077, Metro Exodus, Division 2, Dying Light 2, Sekio and Just Cause 3 were my highlights with Cyberpunk and Metro both as the standout Day 1 purchases. MS didn't just excite with such a vast array of titles that I want, they also announced their commitment to the future of the Xbox and backed that by action with the formation and acquisition of 5 'new' studios to MS - Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Undead Labs and Compulsion Games, as well as the opening of a new studio in Santa Monica, California entitled The Initiative, which will be led by the former Crystal Dynamics studio head Darrell Gallagher. Playground may as well of been an MS studio anyway as they only made Xbox games anyway - like Sucker Punch was making PS games only before being acquired. Ninja Theory could be a big coup and have made some good games - most recently the award winning Hellblade. 2 of these are UK based too. This, along with all those games - inc a good number of Exclusives (not including the Playground open world game they alluded to - Fable? - during the show but didn't reveal) was the 'best' news for Xbox users but even Sony users had a lot of games to be excited for - probably more than any other briefing.

Square Enix - Brief and generally not my 'favourite' publisher due to the type of games they are associated with. Nothing against them personally, just that the majority of their franchises have little appeal. Tomb Raider though looked great and Just Cause 3 looked OK too. Babylon Fall and the Quiet Man will be ones to keep an eye on to see what these are. It was brief and I was disappointed that the Crystal Dynamix Avengers game wasn't shown, apart from TR, the game I was most hoping to see but I wasn't expecting a lot anyway...

Ubisoft - AC: Odyssey was always going to be my highlight after the excellent Origins and it didn't disappoint. The Division 2 looked a step up from the first but we saw more at MS's. Just Cause 4 looks OK (again shown at MS's first) but not outstanding or a 'must have' for me. BG&E2 had a LOT of high hopes but the new info wasn't particularly inspiring. The only other game I was interested in was Trials but the highlight was seeing Nita Strauss rock the DK/Rabbids thing - certainly better than the Andrew WK toned down 'anthemic rock' performance at Bethesda's. I

Sony - Solid start with Last of Us 2 looking incredible - as we have come to expect from the 'best' developer studio. Presentation fell apart after that and was very disjointed as the presenters tried to fill a longer than 'expected' time. Ghost of Tsushima impressed too and confirmed what I was expecting it to be. Spider-Man too looked 'fun' too. All 3 will certainly be bought. DS though did nothing to help its cause for me - yes it looks good in cut-scenes visually but after that, it all seemed 'odd' and dare I say 'boring'. Maybe with some context, some actual ideas of what the game is as it seemed like a walking sim based on this with some pretty cut-scenes. Its great having a story, a plot, an idea etc in your head but if you can't convey that cohesively to an audience, its meaningless. Anyway that's my opinion on that. However Sony didn't just stick to these 4 as we were almost pushed to expect but they did offer some surprises - Nioh 2 (not that I have actually played the first yet) and RE2 remake are the only 2 that are 'maybe's' for me. Remedy, with its Quantum Break 2 game, may persuade me - if they have learned from all the mistakes in their 'Xbox' failure and CoD: BO4 (although it more likely this will be the first CoD I don't buy since CoD4 and first 'Prestige' edition I don't buy since MW2 - the last 'standard' edition release I bought) are both in that 'limbo' zone between buy or forget.

In terms numbers, MS had the highest number of games I want, highest number of Exclusives I want, gave us the best reassurance for the future and had the 'smoothest' and most professional (or rehearsed) presentation in my opinion. If that means they 'won' in my eyes, so be it. I couldn't care less who has the 'most' or 'best' (quantity or quality) Exclusives, I am concerned which has the most 'games' that I want to play. I can play both Sony's and MS's anyway so its not like I have to pick so its down to which offered me the most games I want - and I couldn't care less if most/all can be played by others on their platform of choice too. If I am honest, the 3 'big' exclusives I want that Sony showed are higher up my 'wanted' list than the 5 or 6 'exclusives' that MS showed - and of course add in Days Gone too and that becomes much closer in number.

The big take-away from E3 for me though is how many 'great' games are coming out in the 3/4months either side of Christmas. Kicking off in September, with games like Spider-Man and TR, through Oct with RDR2, AC: Odyssey and FH4 and then Jan-Mar with RE2, Days Gone, Metro, Anthem, Crackdown 3, Division 2 and Trials - its going to be an expensive time if I buy all the games I want. This is just the games I want and I am sure other gamers are in a similar position with so many great games releasing.

Overall then, the winner of E3 has to be us - the gamers!!!

Well, now the Smash Direct is over, when does Nintendo's E3 presentation start?

Waaaaaaaaay too much time dedicated to Smash Ultimate.

With that said, the new Fire Emblem looks really, really cool. I can't wait to see more about that. Also excited to start playing Hollow Knight today.

Smash E3 direct is finally over...
Seriously if you don't play this game the direct was more or less a waste of time.

Bleurgh. Smash Bros. looks nice, I'd buy it. However, they spent far, far too much time on it and went into some very strange tiny details. Wondering what sort of single player mode there will be, if any. What could Nintendo's other teams be up to, other than porting Wii U games?

Not much else to write home about, although the mecha game at the beginning looks cool.

@mookysam They didn't talk about the hair physics though, very disappointing.

So yeah, who's nuts for suggesting low expectations now? XD

But yeah, that was effing abysmal. Smash looks good but...year 2 of the Switch is....what? October - Mario Party, November - Pokemon, December - Smash Ultimate.

Nothing for August or September, the first half of 2018 is cardboard, Wii U ports and a mediocre Kirby game. Most of the third party support is "Eventually" or delayed like Dark Souls.

We on a dark path boys.

@Knuckles-Fajita Nah, I kinda like this. Gives me nostalgic Wii U vibes

@Octane Woo. Suddenly my pessimism doesn't seem so crazy.

@Octane Oh it'll be in the inevitable Direct, alongside them proudly showing off the texture of Mario's dungarees.

@Knuckles-Fajita If you only play big first-party games, that's your problem. I'll be playing Hollow Knight, Octopath Traveler, Shining Resonance Refrain, Ys VIII, Valkyria Chronicles 4, Crash Bandicoot, Mega Man 11, Okami HD, MH Generations Ultimate, Disgaea 1 Complete, Gal Metal, Tales of Vesperia, and Hyper Light Drifter.

OK, realistically, I won't even be playing half of that this year, as there are still PS4 games on sale I want, I have a backlog to attend to, and I'm not made of money. But you get where I'm going with this.

Amusingly enough, it's the first party software that's not doing it for me this year. I don't know if I want Smash Ultimate yet, Pokemon Let's Go looks... ehh... and I have no desire to play Mario Party or Tennis Aces.

I'm sure there'll be a few more surprises via Nintendo Direct, but I'm satisfied with this year, even if it is EXTREMELY soft on the first-party support for my tastes.

@Ralizah Oh yeah, the admittedly still not stellar but fine third party lineup is doing it for me.

Let's Go I'll at least try, and Smash is Smash count me in.

Beyond that...er….yep.

That was not a great Direct for me. Smash is fantastic like always, but that part dragged on for far too long. Fire Emblem and that Mech game might be great, but I'm not really into those kinds of games. As for Pokemon Let's Go, the announcement that Mew is only available from buying the Pokeball Plus device has somehow made me even less interested in those games.

So, I won't be rushing out and getting a Switch tomorrow. I'll likely get one next year once we've seen the 2019 core Pokemon RPGs.

@Knuckles-Fajita That's too bad. I'm super excited to play a lot of these games. Way more than any of the third party games released last year (with the exception of Mario + Rabbids).

Oh, and I guess I should include the Xenoblade 2 DLC, which seems like it's going to be meaty.

Random thoughts on E3 incoming:

As a whole, I thought E3 was pretty good. Granted, I only watched Bethesda, Ubisoft, and Sony. But I have been keeping up with the announcements and watching trailers I missed that I’m interested in. I don’t have a Switch so I have no opinion there.
Usually I don’t watch E3 but this year the timing worked out for me. So I don’t have much to compare it to.
The main games that came out for me —
The big 4 Sony game’s all impressed me, honestly. The one I was most impressed with was Ghost of Tsushima. Absolutely beautiful game and the art direction is just excellent. The combat and traversal to me looked good too, although some people are saying it looks rough. I thought it looked wonderful during combat and then noticed that the lack of HUD really made it look so much more cinematic. Stark contrast to the aiming reticles, menus, and health bars on TLoU and Spider-Man. I wonder if it will stay that way for actual gameplay, or if that was a ploy to help it show well.
Death Stranding also did not disappoint, and although many are complaining of lack of meaningful gameplay and combat, it looks fantastic and I can feel it coming together for a unique experience.
TLoU will be solid no doubt. Naughty Dog will deliver. I just wish we had a little more about the story to excite me and I would have like to see the infected. Otherwise the gameplay part with the stealth takedowns and creeping in the shadows was a little bit like Shadow of the Tomb Raider at first blush, so I think TR stole its thunder a bit.
And it sure is exciting to see evidence finally of other games too, such as Cyberpunk. It has been my most anticipated game up to now, and the trailer was okay but did little to excite me more, like GofT did.
Was hoping we’d get more release dates of course, but they appear to be trickling in now. Soul Calibur 6, RE2, Valkyria Chr 4 appear to have dates now. Was really hoping Dreams would get a date. But like Sammy’s article today emphasizes, I’m not terribly upset, as I know these things take time.

@Kidfried Not coming out this year nor is it the time to discuss them.

If Suda doesn't want to show NMH at E3, he wont. Prime 4 has had only a year of development. The phrase "2018" games kinda said we wouldn't see Prime.

But if ya wanna talk missing games: Yoshi, Sonic, Okami, dates for a lot of things like Dark Souls...

@Th3solution Totally agree E3 has been awesome. Theres also no way anyone can enjoy all the big games coming out so I dont understand the negativity. Just at Sonys E3 you have

1. TLOU 2
2. Spiderman
3. Ghosts of Tushima
4. Death Stranding
5. Contact
6. Resident Evil 2
7. Nioh 2
8. Kingdom Hearts 3
9. Tetris Effect
10. Dreams
11. Beat Sabre
12. Twin Mirror

13. Days Gone
14. Ghost Giant
15. Destiny 2
16. Cod Blops 4

Those top 12 games are pretty much must play imo.

Microsoft came back to the party with 50 games which was an amazing conference tbf.

Ubisofts was underrated imo. Albeit they have gone in a different direction to my personal tastes. We have to acknowledge that they have gone for online gaming in a big way and are in many ways trend setters in that regard.

EAs was alright and the big slogan of no pay to win mechanics is great for everyone.

Nintendo has put out some good games and as @Ralizah alluded to has an amazing list of 3rd party gamed.

Its great all 3 consoles are back and in business. As gamers we cant lose.